12 Killed in Blast at Cyprus Navy Base

Reuters reports:

The head of the Cypriot navy, a navy base commander and six firefighters were among 12 people killed early on Monday by a blast at a munitions dump which knocked out the island's biggest power station, police said.

The firefighters were called to the Evangelos Florakis navy base on the south coast of the island, near a popular holiday resort, to tackle a blaze at the dump, which burnt for about an hour before causing a huge explosion.

The blast almost levelled the nearby Vassilikos power plant, which produces nearly 60 percent of the island's energy, damaged buildings in nearby villages and rained metal on a motorway. All the victims were Cypriots.

The country's defence minister and army chief quit hours after the explosion at the dump, which held confiscated Iranian armaments. A government spokesman ruled out sabotage.

The blast wounded 62 people, shredded the outer walls of two multi-storey buildings and shook olive groves and farming villages for miles around the base.